Annual Townwide Spelling Bee Rules

• Each team will consist of three members, including the captain. There are eight
  swarms in the Spelling Bee and up to eight teams compete in each swarm.

• The Prouncer will pronounce the word, give the definition of the word, use it in a sentence and pronounce the word once more. Participants in each round may ask the swarm may ask the Pronouncer to pronounce the word one additional time, but no more.

• Team members may collaborate on the spelling of the word. Each team will
  have 30 seconds to spell the word by writing it on the white board distributed to each team at the beginning of the Spelling Bee. Following one warning, any team that does not hold up the white board when the judges call for it will be eliminated.

• Upon missing the spelling of two words, a team is eliminated. A swarm is over
  when all but one team is eliminated. The winner of each swarm will compete in the Championship Swarm. Only one team from each swarm may participate in the Championship Swarm. In the event of a tie, the Pronouncer shall give additional words to the teams that have tied until a winner emerges from the swarm. If no team in a particular swarm spells a word correctly, the Pronouncer shall give additional words until one team wins.

• The winner of each swarm shall participate in the Championship Swarm. This
  swarm will be conducted like the other swarms with one difference. The Pronouncer will give words until all but two teams are eliminated. If a word results in the elimination of all but one team, that word will not count. The team that spelled the word correctly shall be allowed to replace a flag if it has only one remaining. The Pronouncer shall give additional words until two teams are remaining. After all but two teams have been eliminated, the final two teams shall compete to determine the winner of the Bee. The winner will be declared after one of the two teams spells one word incorrectly.

• Webster's Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged), the official Bee
  dictionary, is the source for spelling and pronunciation. Spelling includes the correct placement of any additional characters such as hyphens, accent marks, or apostrophes.

• The judges will make the final decision on all questions, including disputes concerning pronunciation. There will be no appeals.

GOOD LUCK!

For a PDF version of these rules, click here.